How to Learn Faster With the 5 Learning Dimensions

TL;DR

How you think about information matters far more than which study technique you use. Studying only exists to trigger processing in the brain, and deep processing, meaning thinking that connects new information into a wider knowledge network, is what produces retention and transfer. Isolated, unconnected facts get forgotten within a minute, and deep processing can be trained through neuroplasticity.

Transcript

Learning to learn is absurdly important and absurdly complicated. Most people go their entire lives without ever learning to learn properly. For the past 13 years, I've dedicated my life to understanding learning research and coaching people on how to learn efficiently. From doctors to software engineers to CEOs and everything in between. And in th... Read More

Key Insights

• Learning to learn is described as absurdly important and absurdly complicated, and most people go their entire lives without ever learning it properly. The speaker has spent 13 years studying learning research and coaching doctors, software engineers, CEOs, and others on efficient learning.
• The most valuable skill a learning coach has is diagnosis: identifying why a specific person struggles and precisely what they need to change. Understanding all of the research is not the requirement, and this diagnostic ability is what the video aims to transfer to viewers.
• Studying and learning are not the same thing. Learning happens primarily in the brain, so the purpose of studying is only to trigger certain processing patterns. Outcomes such as retention and the ability to apply knowledge depend on that processing, not on the study activity itself.
• Technique matters much less than commonly assumed, because using the same technique as someone else does not mean thinking in the same way. Memory, attention, depth of understanding, and knowledge use are governed by invisible patterns and habits of thinking, which makes self-feedback difficult.
• First principles beat techniques because they let you build your own method or upgrade a method you already use. The same principles apply across subjects and disciplines, so coaching a doctor for final fellowship exams uses the same principles as coaching a senior software engineer doing a master's while working full time.
• Deep processing is any thinking process that leads to forming a good knowledge schema, meaning a connected network of knowledge. Memory functions as an interconnected web, so information integrated into a dense network is retained while isolated information is discarded as a waste of energy.
• Shallow or superficial processing leaves information sitting isolated in the brain, and forgetting can happen in under a minute. This is why a page can be read and half of it already forgotten by the time the reader reaches the bottom of that page.
• Habitual deep processors tend to be the statistical top achievers who understand concepts quickly, remember better, and get better grades while studying less. Neuroplasticity means deep processing can still be trained by mimicking how a deep processor thinks until it becomes a new habit.

Questions & Answers

Q: What does learning to learn actually mean?

Learning to learn means understanding the anatomy of learning rather than collecting study techniques. Information enters through the eyes and ears, the brain processes it, and only then can it be applied to solve problems, write an essay, or hold a discussion. Studying, note-taking, and study apps sit between input and the brain, and their only real purpose is to trigger particular processing patterns. Most people misunderstand this and treat the technique itself as the source of learning, when the decisive work happens invisibly inside the brain.

Q: What is the difference between studying and processing?

Studying is the visible activity: writing different types of notes, reading in a certain way, or using various apps. Processing is what the brain does with the sensory signals your eyes and ears detect, and how you process determines outcomes like retention and the ability to apply knowledge. The distinction matters because two people can use the exact same technique, or no particular technique at all, and end up with very different levels of knowledge. Someone just sitting and listening in a lecture or workshop may generate more knowledge than someone using an elaborate system.

Q: What is deep processing in learning?

Deep processing is any type of thinking process that leads to forming a good knowledge schema, which is a fancy way of saying you are building a network of knowledge. Memory functions as an interconnected web of information, so deep processing integrates each new piece into a larger, denser network. From the brain's perspective, information connected to many other things looks valuable and worth holding on to. Shallow or superficial processing, by contrast, leaves the new information sitting isolated with perhaps a couple of connections.

Q: Why do I forget what I read so quickly?

Forgetting that fast is a symptom of shallow or superficial processing. When information enters the brain without being connected into a network, it sits there isolated and by itself, and the brain is very efficient at discarding unconnected information because keeping it is a waste of energy. The process can happen in under a minute, which is why you can read a page and have already forgotten half of it by the time you reach the bottom. Deeply processed information integrates into a dense network instead and is retained.

Q: Why are some people naturally better at learning?

People who do deep processing effectively and at a habitual level tend statistically to be the top achievers. They are the ones in school, at university, or at work who just get things, understand concepts more quickly, appear to have better memory, and earn better grades without studying as much as everyone else. Their advantage is not a superior technique but an already high deep processing ability, which is why they get labelled a genius or the typical high achiever. That ability usually traces to genetics or early childhood experiences.

Q: Can deep processing be trained or is it innate?

It can be trained. Neuroplasticity, the technical term for the brain's ability to break and make new connections and to grow and adapt, means you can develop deep processing even without the genetics or early childhood experiences that produce habitual deep processors, who are a minority of people. The method is to mimic the way a deep processor thinks until it becomes a new habit. The catch is that thinking in an unfamiliar way is very uncomfortable and takes a high level of effort, so most people give up before the habit forms.

Q: How do I know if deep processing is my rate limiter?

The main sign is that you have to spend a high amount of time to understand new and complex concepts. Low processing shows up across the anatomy of learning: retention suffers, applying knowledge in deeper ways becomes difficult, you forget things more quickly, and you spend a lot of time relearning the same material over and over again. Diagnosing your rate limiter is the step that tells you what to work on, and the five core dimensions of learning exist to make that diagnosis clear instead of leaving your methods as a jumble of patterns and techniques.

Q: Why is improving deep processing so difficult?

Because you are thinking in a way you have not thought in before, and any method of thinking that is not yet a habit produces a high level of discomfort and demands very high effort to force neuroplasticity. The comparison given is building muscle: going to the gym once for a fifteen minute workout will not leave you jacked for the rest of your life, because it takes time, consistency, and intensity. Training deep processing is possible for anyone, but most people never get there because they give up when it feels too uncomfortable or effortful.

Summary & Key Takeaways

• The anatomy of learning has three parts: information enters through the eyes and ears, the brain processes it, and then it is applied to solve problems, write essays, or hold discussions. Studying, note-taking, and apps sit in the middle only as tools whose real job is to trigger the right processing inside the brain.

• Because the decisive factor is invisible thinking rather than visible technique, two people using the identical method can end up with very different levels of knowledge. Someone simply sitting and listening in a lecture may generate deeper knowledge than someone applying an elaborate system, since the difference lies in how each person thinks about the information.

• Five core dimensions of learning organize the hundreds or thousands of research variables into something intuitive enough to act on. The first dimension is deep processing, defined as any thinking that builds a good knowledge schema. Seeing your learning through these dimensions makes your rate limiter visible so you know exactly what to work on.